About NSA
Regardless of the industry or discipline in which your expertise as a speaker falls, people who speak professionally have many things in common. Many are entrepreneurs or small business owners. Challenges related to marketing products and services, keeping up with technological advances and anticipating trends are common to everyone.
There is no such thing as a “speaking circuit,” so how do you reach potential clients? How do you expand your skill set to increase your value to clients once you have them? With long hours, travel and an ever-changing cast of clients, speaking can be a lonely profession. What is the best way to expand your network of colleagues and connect to people who do what you do?
The National Speakers Association brings speakers together to address these issues. NSA is a community of thousands of speaking professionals all over the world — a community where the pursuit of knowledge and the sharing of ideas is a way of life.
The Las Vegas Chapter of the National Speakers Association meets on the third Saturday of the month from 9AM-noon. For more information on NSA-LV and our monthly meetings, sign up for our mailing list. The February 2012 meeting is at the Stirling Club, on Paradise Rd. in Las Vegas.
Events & News
Directory
Contact Us
For general info and inquiries, please contact our President, Lewin Williams
lewin_williams@msn.com
For programs, please contact L. Eric Culverson
eric@technically-speaking.com
For membership, please contact Mike Rayburn CSP
mike@mikerayburn.com
For the Academy, please contact Paul Burton
paul@quietspacing.com
For website, please contact L. Eric Culverson
eric@technically-speaking.com
Membership
What NSA of Las Vegas has to Offer to Professional Speakers
- Exposure to world class speakers who share their secrets of success
- Invaluable career building tools
- Updates and insight on the latest trends in the industry
- Networking with other successful speakers
- Updates and insight on the latest trends in the technologies that serve speakers and the meetings industry
- New ideas as well as traditional wisdom concerning speaking business models
- Exposure to bookings opportunities
- Exposure to the world class creative minds of Las Vegas entertainers for application to speaking.
- Access to top coaches and development of platform skills
- Non-standard educational programming
Membership Levels
Affiliate Member – $199
A potential National NSA member. Affliiate members are given 2 years to qualify for membership in the national organization.
NSA Member – $149
A local chapter member. Membership in the national organization is required for chapter membership.
NSA Member Renewal – $149
To learn more about NSA National Member requirements and to download the application, please visit http://www.nsaspeaker.org/JOINNSA.aspx
Professional Speaking on the Fast Track
The National Speakers Association’s Las Vegas Chapter (NSA-LV) is proud to introduce its Speaker Academy program. The Academy is a multi-month adult learning program designed to accelerate the educations and skills development for people who want to be successful professional speakers.
Academy’s Purpose
The NSA-LV Speaker Academy’s purpose is two-fold
- To provide a mechanism for aspiring speakers to learn the basics of the speaking profession and gain the skills necessary to become successful as speakers.
- To continue to add to the talent, breadth and experience of the NSA-LV chapter membership base.
Academy Member Benefits
The seven-month program will turbo-charge your career by helping you:
- Understand the business of speaking from both a developmental and operational perspective.
- Chart your own course for speaking success based on your unique goals and aspirations as a professional speaker.
- Develop the core competencies of a professional speaker.
- Gain powerful and practical insights from professional speakers who are practicing what you are learning.
- Build lasting relationships with other Academy members, NSA-LV members, and the tribe of speakers across the globe.
- Qualify for professional membership in the National Speakers Association.
As an Academy member, you will learn from a respected faculty of experts hand-picked from NSA-LV Board of Directors and NSA-LV membership, many of whom hold Certified Speaking Professionals (CSP) designations and other industry accolades.
Academy Dates
NSA-LV Academy sessions are held on the 2nd Monday of each month. They begin at 6:30 PM and run until 9:30 PM. All sessions are held in the first-floor Board Room of the Henderson Executive Airport, which is located at 1400 Executive Airport Drive, Henderson, NV 89052.
Dates for the 2011-2012 Academy classes are:
- October 10, 2011
- November 14, 2011
- December – No class
- January 9, 2012
- February 13, 2012
- March 12, 2012
- April 9, 2012
- May 19, 2012 – Approximate – On Regularly Scheduled NSA-LV Chapter Meeting
Graduates Also Receive
- Access to discounted professional services, e.g.
- Headshots.
- Video Bios.
- One-Sheet development assistance.
- Premier Night Showcase – Judged/feedback & videotaped. Video provided to student in ready-to-upload format.
- Free admission for every monthly NSA-LV meeting in during the program (value $343)
“This was the best adult learning program I’ve ever attended. In fact, it was so good I agreed to lead the development of the NSA-Las Vegas Chapter’s Academy!”
-Paul H. Burton, J.D. and Creator of the QuietSpacing® productivity method
Graduate – Class of 2010 (NSA-Oregon Fast Track)
Scheduled Curriculum
The Academy’s program consists of seven evening sessions. Subject to the availability of our faculty and instructors, the course sessions will include:
Speaking as a Business
What are the underpinnings of a successful speaking business? How do you get started? What is it that you are trying to build? These are the questions this first session addresses. You will learn the nuts and bolts of starting and running a professional speaking business from the ground up.
Content: Developing Content and Styles of Content
This session provides an overview of the myriad ways content can be developed and delivered. Are you a humorist, a storyteller, a motivator, etc.? With a grounding in the type of speaker you are, you can begin to produce content audiences want to hear. The latter portion of this program reviews the types of content that meeting planners and audiences want to hear.
Creating and Distributing the Marketing Materials
What do you need in the form of collateral to market your services to the people hiring speakers? How much of it is electronic collateral and how much of it is physical? During this session, you’ll learn what professional speakers consider the must-haves and the nice-to-haves for marketing to meeting planners and economic buyers in the speaking industry.
Building and Executing the Marketing Plan
Great content is the first step in any successful speaking business. However, building a plan for getting the message out, then getting the message out are both critically important to building your brand and procuring the financial reward for all your hard work.
Platform Skills – Speaking Like a Professional
The client has called, reviewed your proposal, and hired you to speak. This is the big moment! This session will focus on the tips and tricks of delivering your presentation well and using the stage as a tool.
Dress Rehearsal
The dress rehearsal event will join your presentation with NSA-LV members as judges to provide you a constructive critique of your content, your style and your presentation skills. All this is in preparation for your coming out party to be held at the upcoming NSA-LV Chapter meeting, in front of “real” judges.
Showcase Day
This is the culmination of all your hard work. You will be given 10 minutes to strut your stuff in front of the entire NSA-LV Chapter membership and their guests. In the audience will be meeting planners and speaker bureau representatives who will provide you invaluable written and verbal critiques about your programming.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of this programming. I, too, attended a similar program back in Florida and it did wonders for my skills, confidence, and bank account!”
-Jeff Civillico
NSA-LV Board Member and Academy Instructor
Program Information
- Classes are held between 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm.
- Class size is limited to 10 people.
- Homework will be assigned at the end most meetings.
- You will have the opportunity to join a Mastermind group consisting of between 4-6 fellow program participants. Such groups meet regularly and provide an important additional vehicle to growing your speaking business.
- Classes are taught by successful professional speakers, as well as, recording experts and others who serve the speaking community. Instructors are selected for their expertise in specific areas.
- Upon admission to the Speaker’s Academy, you will also become an Affiliate Member of the NSA-LV Chapter for one year, and will be eligible to attend monthly chapter meetings for FREE.
- Completing the Speaker’s Academy program does not make you eligible to join the National Speakers Association or authorize you to use the NSA logo, but it does provide you a clear path to how you can fulfill those membership requirements.
Academy Costs (including all the benefits mentioned above)
If you register BEFORE October 1, 2011: $700.
If you register On or AFTER October 1, 2011: $777
For additional questions, please contact paul@quietspacing.com.
Eligibility and Application Process
No prior paid speaking engagements are required to be eligible to apply. You are eligible to apply to the NSA-LV Speakers Academy if any of the following apply to you:
- Have already been paid to speak; or
- Are seriously interested in pursuing a career as a professional speaker; or
- Are seeking to use paid speaking as an integral component of promoting your existing business venture, e.g, consultancy, training, coaching, etc.
The Academy’s coordinators seek a commitment from you to learn and master the business of professional speaking, as demonstrated in the answers on the application form. The program coordinators will closely consider applicants commitment to attend, participate, and follow-through on program activities.
If this is program is for you, please complete and submit your application here.
If you feel that you currently qualify for full membership to the NSA, please contact NSA directly at (480) 968-2552 or visit our web site for membership details at www.nsalasvegas.com/membership.
Academy Coordinators
Our coordinators review applications and manage the Academy. For this inaugural year, there will only be one coordinator:
Paul H. Burton, paul@quietspacing.com
Paul helps people meet the challenges of the modern workplace. His clients regain control of their day, get more done, and enjoy greater career and personal success. When not delivering presentations filled with time making suggestions, Paul is training and coaching people on how to customize his revolutionary QuietSpacing® productivity method into the way they like to work. You can learn more about Paul and his practice at www.quietspacing.com.
If you have any questions, please email the coordinators listed above.